Constructing a powerful resume is an important part of furthering your career and landing a new job. The main thing to keep in mind is your resume is your calling card and should be written with hiring managers in mind.
Your goal is to grab their attention so you score an interview. Use the following tips to build a powerful resume that stands out from the crowd.
Current Employment Details
Aside from just your current title, offer a description explaining your duties and accomplishments. Different companies use different job titles for similar positions so be as explicit as possible.
Places and Dates
Don’t leave a hiring manager guessing. Document education credentials and your work history with dates and places. It’s important they know the where and when for every step of your career.
Side note – if you’ve had a lot of jobs, it is tempting to take dates off your resume. Instead, consider using a Summary format for your resume.
Add Interest
Show off your special flavor of what you can bring to the table with details. Be specific about the involved or technical aspects of your training or past experience. This is especially helpful if you’ve performed significant or complex tasks. Remember not to be too technical – you want to wow, not overwhelm.
Focus On What Matters Most
Don’t spend a lot of time highlighting irrelevant experience. Focus on showing off areas important to the reader. I wouldn’t recommend you leave things off, but use most of your resume real estate shining a light on the things that will help you succeed if hired.
Brevity Is King
Your resume should only be one or two pages because any longer can hurt your chances of someone actually reading the whole thing. Hiring managers want to know you can organize your thoughts and aren’t putting extra words on a page just to impress. Focus on the strongest content that answers the needs described in the job ad.
If you have a ton of past experience that is similar, consider grouping together positions instead of listing each separately. For instance: 2000-2007 Sales Manager – Company Names. Then detail a general list of accomplishments and skills you utilized in all of the roles.
The Devil Is In The Details
Many hiring managers will simply toss out a resume that has errors in it. If you need to, pay a professional to look over your resume. You need to make a great first impression – don’t let an overlooked error hurt your chances.
With these tips, you’ll find it easier to build a killer resume that shows off your career development to prospective hiring managers.
